How does the scripture continue? Yes, yes. (Build in energy as the Spirit brings the scriptures to her mind) “By his stripes we are healed.” His poor back, bleeding from the cruel lash of the whip. The stripes of blood and torn, lacerated flesh. By his stripes I am healed. Is this true? First he takes my punishment. Then he heals me.
He chose the bitter cup for me. For me! He came to serve. Not to be served. (On her knees) Oh, how wrong I was! I am like that other sheep. The one gone astray, who wanted things her way.
Oh, God! Is this what he meant? Did he accept the degradation of that horrible death for my sake? Did he become a slave for me? Did he become last that I might be first? Is that his service? Is that the cup of sorrow?
Oh, God, I don’t want to be first! I don’t want to rule! I just want Jesus to be King! I love him. I loved him as he performed his signs and wonders. I loved him when he entered the city on the donkey in such glory. I loved him when I thought he had come to re-establish the throne of David. (Eyes shut, hugging herself, curled inward) And I loved him as he hung on the cross, stripped of all dignity, scorned, humiliated. (Weeping, she’s almost prostrate) I loved him. (Corrects herself—switches to present tense) I love him. I want him to be my King. I will be his servant. That’s all. Let me be the lowliest of slaves if he can but be my King, my Master, my—(she sits up, catching her breath as she makes yet another leap in understanding)—my God. (A consecration) If that means I must be last, make me last, God! Just let me serve him! Let me share the bitter cup. Let me go down to death with him. Let him be first. First, central and foremost in my life. Let me serve him.
I know of only one last service I may do him. I go now to the tomb. I will anoint his poor, broken body with spices. It’s all I can do. How I wish I could do more!
I drink of the cup. The bitter cup of sorrow. (She slowly exits with her load of spices)
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Oh What a Day!
A Monodrama
Cast:
Narrator: This is the person who will introduce the monolog.
Mary Magdalene: The first person who saw the risen Christ.
Scene:
A simple room in the villa where the women have been staying in Jerusalem. Have a table angled at centre stage with a chair to one side. A stool or bench with a basket of bread, vegetables and other foods can be down-right or down-left, whichever side makes it easier for the blocking at the end.
Props and costume:
Mary brings a basket of funeral spices on stage with her. She will take the spices out and replace them with food. She is dressed in a long skirt and dark shawl/head covering, which she takes off when she enters. As she exits, have a lighter, cheerier shawl to use to contrast her movement from darkness into light.
Narrator:
Come with us to the city of Jerusalem. This city, normally bustling and crowded, is now bursting with the addition of pilgrims who have come from all over the known world to celebrate the Passover. It is teeming with sights, sounds—and smells.
This Passover has been more hectic than usual with the execution of a local Prophet—Jesus of Nazareth—and two thieves. At the moment Jesus died, Jerusalem and the surrounding countryside experienced an earthquake and eerie darkness that has left many of the people shaken and wary. The followers of Jesus, demoralized and fearful, are in hiding.
Imagine we are in the main room of a small villa. The curtains are closed and it is gloomy, for the people who are staying here—women who follow Jesus—are in mourning. We are going to meet one of the women. Passover is over. It is now the day after the Sabbath, the third day after Jesus died. And Oh, What a Day it is!
Mary Magdalene:
(Enters in a whirl and leans back against the door, closing her eyes.)
“This is the day the Lord has made. I will rejoice and be glad in it.” (She opens her eyes. Her smile glows) I don’t know if my mind is big enough to understand all I saw today. It is so high, so magnificent, so—(gestures, searches for a lofty enough word) so glorious. My heart cannot contain it. (Big smile and a laugh) My body can’t stay still. (She twirls, laughing) I want to leap and dance. I want to sing and shout. I want to tell everybody in the whole world. (Sings) “Sing, O daughter of Zion; Shout O Israel; Rejoice and be glad with all of your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!” (She collapses in a heap, gasping and giggling) My head is as light as my heart and feet and I am dizzy. (Surges to her feet in another leap, crying it out) Dizzy with joy! (Sings again) “Sing, O daughter of Zion!” (She flings her arms out in exultation and holds the moment) Jesus is alive!
And I saw him! Me! Lowly, plain Mary Magdalene! I saw him! I saw him first! Before any of the disciples or the leaders. Before any of the men! I saw him!
(She sobers, remembering) Was it only yesterday I thought I would never sing again? Never dance again? Never, never be lighthearted, light-footed or even lightheaded again? (Shudders. Flat, dull) Oh, the darkness that gripped me crept into every hidden place of my whole being. I was crushed by a heaviness I thought could never go away.
(Anguished) Because He was dead. Dead. He who had set my feet to dancing and my spirit to singing. Who warmed me with His love. Whose words lit a path for my feet. He who had released me from my shackles. (Beat) Dead. Dead on that tree. Dead, lying cold in the tomb. And all that life and song and hope and warmth and light gone with Him, lost, forgotten. (Beat) Dead.
And what of me? (Stops and makes it a real cry) What of Mary Magdalene? I was dead, too. Cold and lost, forgotten and abandoned. More dead, even, than if I, too, had been placed in a tomb. This was a darkness more empty than anything I had ever known. This was despair where no hope could live.
I had known emptiness before. Dark forces had owned me, controlled me, robbed me of my personhood, my spirit. Then I met—Him. Jesus. (Breathing it) Jesus of Nazareth. He drove the demons away. His light banished the darkness. His love filled my soul. (Starts to sing, gently, softly, caught up in the memory) “I walked in darkness and I saw a great light as the night shone bright as the day. For You keep my candle glowing radiantly, Lord, and Your light drives my darkness away.”
(Her gentle smile fades) I had forgotten—or hadn’t understood—what He’d taught us. “I am the Light of the world,” He said.
I had lost the light.
Shivering from the sickness in my soul, I went to the tomb this morning. Chilled and aching, a great loneliness engulfing me, I brought spices to anoint my Master’s body.
When I arrived, I saw that the stone had already been moved. Tears blurring my vision, I entered the tomb. (Takes a step back) It was empty! (Shakes head in disbelief) The body was gone. Jesus, my beloved Teacher, was not there.
(Quick, jerky movements) Perplexed, dismayed, my mind reeling, I ran to find the disciples. Finding Peter and John, I gasped, “Someone has taken the Master’s body from the tomb and I don’t know where it is.”
They ran quickly to the tomb and I followed slowly, still in shock, still weeping and empty. My heart throbbed painfully as I stood again outside the tomb. I knelt down and looked in at the stone slab where Jesus’ body should have been lying.
I dropped back in amazement. I couldn’t believe what I was looking at. I’d never seen angels before, but I knew that the two men sitting there were angels. They wore shining white robes and they dazzled my eyes.
One of them said, “Why are you crying?”
I said, “Someone has taken my Master’s body away and I don’t know where he is.”
Crying even harder, I headed back into the garden. Wrapped in my grief, I wandered away, looking for the body. My sobs came in weak, wrenching gasps. I stumbled and (awe breaks through) looking up through my tears, saw a man I thought was the gardener.
“Woman, why do you weep,” He asked, “ who are you looking for?”
(A shaky laughter starting) And I, not knowing who it was, said, “Sir, if you have carried my Master away, please tell me where you have put Him, so I can go and look after Him.”<
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(Eyes soft, experiencing the warmth) He just looked at me, eyes gentle, a warm smile that dispersed the fog in my mind and reached my very heart. “Mary,” he said.
Light burst through the darkness, flooding my being. My spirit soared as music, the music of the heavens, lifted me (builds) to joy, peace, love—LIFE! I was alive for He was alive. This was Jesus—my Jesus. My Master, my Deliverer, my Teacher, my Friend, my Brother, my Hope. This was Jesus—alive, smiling at me, (hugs self) loving me, and enfolding me. (Dancing) Alive, real, the Light of the world. Hosanna! Hosanna in the Highest! Hallelujah!
(Stills and sings, deep, intense, joyful) “I praise You, O Lord, with all of my heart; Your marvelous works I proclaim. I rejoice and delight in your unfailing love, I sing praise to your wonderful name.”
(Goes to table. Starts packing basket briskly with fruit and bread) And now I go to Galilee for He is there. I shall see His face again! (She sings as she exits)
“Sing, O daughter of Zion; Shout O Israel; Rejoice and be glad with all of your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem!”
(Alternate ending: Instead of exiting and singing the last line, she could stay on stage with arms held high, and sing Jerry Sinclair’s “Alleluia.” Since it is a well-known chorus, the congregation might spontaneously join her in singing. Once the song is over, she can exit.)
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O Glorious Day!
Worship Service
Although written to be produced in two parts, one on Good Friday, the other on Easter, the parts could be combined into one service.
This program is built around the hymn by J. Wilbur Chapman, “One Day When Heaven Was Filled With His Praises.” For the Good Friday portion of this program, we will not sing the hymn. Instead, we will quote the appropriate verses. That’s because the chorus takes us right through the Resurrection and Second Coming, and we only want to focus on the death and sacrifice of Jesus on Friday. We will sing the hymn in its entirely on Sunday when we celebrate the Resurrection. While I used the traditional hymn as the basis for this program, the contemporary treatments by groups such as Casting Crowns would be beautiful.
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O Glorious Day: Good Friday
Narrator 1: In the beginning— God…
Narrator 2: It all began with God, didn’t it? God, the Alpha and the Omega, the beginning and the end.
Narrator 1: And in the beginning was the Word. The Word. The Word was with God and the Word was God.
Narrator 2: Yes, it all began with God.
Narrator 1: In the beginning God created the heaven and the earth. Through Him—through the Word—all things were made. Nothing was made without Him.
Narrator 2: And in God was life, in God was light. The life in God gave us light.
Narrator 1: But somehow, we who were in darkness could not understand the light, could not grab hold of the light—that light that was life in God. So God—the Word—came. He came to us. He came into the world. He, God, the Creator of the Universe, stepped into time, took the nature of a servant and became a human.
Narrator 2: He dwelt among us. Living, He loved us.
Narrator 1: One day when heaven was filled His praises,
One day when sin was as black as could be,
Jesus came forth to be born of a virgin,
Dwelt among men, my example is He!
Narrator 2: Living, He loved us.
Narrator 1: By dwelling among us, the infinite God subjected Himself to the limitations of time and space so that all who believe in His name would have the right to become His children.
Narrator 2: Just think how much the Father loves us. Think about it. He loves us so much that he lets us be called his children. His children!
Narrator 1: And we truly are His children.
Narrator 2: Okay, so we know God loves us. But do you know how He showed it? He showed his love for us—yes, for you and me—when he sent his Son, His only Son, into the world to give us life.
Narrator 1: Now here’s something really exciting. It’s about true love. We all want true love, don’t we? Well, true love isn’t our love for God. It’s not our love for Him, but it’s His love for us. True love is God’s love for us.
Narrator 1: Living, He loved us.
Narrator 2: He is the Lover of our souls. Let’s sing—”Jesus Lover of My Soul.” We’ll sing verses 1 and 2.
Congregational Hymn: Jesus Lover of My Soul verses 1, 2
THE LORD’S TABLE
(Here we partake of the bread and the wine)
Narrator 1: Jesus came into the world to give us life.
Narrator 2: His Body was broken for us.
Narrator 1: His Blood was shed for us.
Narrator 2: Jesus came to be the sacrifice by which our sins are forgiven.
Narrator 1: “Jesus Lover of My Soul.” Let’s sing verses 3 and 4.
Congregational Hymn: Jesus Lover of My Soul verses 3, 4
Narrator 1: Dying, He saved us.
Narrator 2: One day they led Him up Calvary’s mountain,
One day they nailed Him to die on the tree;
Suffering anguish, despised and rejected,
Bearing our sins, my Redeemer is He!
Narrator 1: Dying, He saved us.
Responsive Reading:
Narrator 2: And on that day, He was led up the mountain to the Place of the Skull. There He was nailed to the cross.
Congregation: He was a man of sorrows. He knew suffering and grief.
Narrator 2: The leaders insulted Him.
Narrator 1: “Ha, ha, he says he is the Savior,” they jeered. “He came to save others, now let him save himself.”
Men: He was despised.
Women: He was rejected.
Narrator 2: The soldiers laughed.
Narrator 1: “If you are the King of the Jews, save yourself.”
Men: He was oppressed.
Women: He was afflicted.
Narrator 2: Two thieves were crucified with Him. One of the thieves mocked Him,
Narrator 1: “Aren’t you the Savior?” he cried. “Save yourself and save us, too.”
Men: He was despised.
Women: He was rejected.
Narrator 1: But the other thief said, “Don’t you fear God? Can’t you see that he is getting the same punishment as us? And that he did nothing to deserve it? We got what was coming to us, but this man is innocent.”
Men: He was wounded for our transgressions.
Women: He was bruised for our iniquities.
Narrator 1: And the thief turned to Jesus and said, “Remember me.”
Narrator 2: And Jesus promised him, “Today you will be with me in paradise.”
Congregation: And by His stripes we are healed.
Narrator 1: When Jesus knew that the time had come, He said, “I am thirsty.” They soaked a sponge in sour wine and held it to His lips at the end of a hyssop branch. When He had tasted it, He said, “It is finished.”
Narrator 2: Salvation was won.
Congregation: He suffered the punishment that freed us and gave us peace. He bore the iniquity of us all.
Men: Dying, He saved us.
Women: Dying, He saved us.
Special Music: “Behold the Lamb” (Dottie Rambo)
Optional Testimony
Narrator 1: The Lord is my rock, my fortress, my Savior.
Narrator 2: Dying, He saved us.
Narrator 1: Buried, He carried our sins far away.
Narrator 2: One day they left Him alone in the garden,
One day He rested, from suffering free;
Angels came down o’er His tomb to keep vigil;
Hope of the hopeless, my Savior is He!
Narrator 1: Living, He loved me.
Narrator 2: Dying, He saved me.
Narrator 1: Buried, He carried my sins far away.
Narrator 2: When we belong to Jesus, we don’t get the punishment we deserve. Life in Jesus Christ frees us from sin and death. God set us fr
ee when He sent His Son to be just like us sinners. He sent Him to be a sacrifice for our sin.
Congregational Hymn: Jesus Paid It All
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O Glorious Day: Resurrection Sunday
Congregational Hymn: One Day When Heaven was Filled With His Praises, verses 1-3
LITANY
Narrator 2: Living, He loved me.
Narrator 1: Dying, He saved me.
Narrator 2: Buried, He carried my sins far away.
Narrator 1: Is anything better than this? God is on our side! How can anyone be against us?
Narrator 2: If God accepts us, how can anyone else condemn us?
Narrator 1: Can anything separate us from the love of Jesus?
Congregation: No!
Narrator 1: Can life or death separate us from His love?
Congregation: No!
Narrator 1: Can angels or demons?
Congregation: No!
Narrator 1: Can the present or the future?
Congregation: No!
Narrator 1: Can the powers above or the powers below?
Congregation: No! Nothing can separate us from God’s love, which is in Jesus Christ our Lord!
Narrator 2: Living, He loved us.
Narrator 1: Dying, He saved us.
Narrator 2: Buried, He carried our sins far away.
Narrator 1: Rising, He justified, freely forever.
Congregational Hymn: One Day When Heaven was Filled With His Praises, verse 4
Narrator 1: Rising, He justified, freely forever.
Narrator 2: Rejoice!
Congregation: He was handed over to death because of our sins.
Narrator 1, 2: Rejoice!
Congregation: He was raised from death to justify us.
Narrator 1, 2: Rejoice!
Congregation: We don’t get what we deserve. Jesus forgives our sins.
Narrator 1, 2: Rejoice!
Congregation: God holds no record of our sins.
Narrator 1, 2: Rejoice!
Congregation: When we trust Jesus to take away our sin, we are made right in God’s sight.